The CROSSROADS Old St. Patrick’s Church Bulletin 19th Annual Spring Food Drive for SUNDAY Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly JUNE 9, 9;<= TODAY! A ll Masses Covered 2 | Just a Thought 3 | Awakenings 4 | At a Glance 5 K Who's Who in Music Ministry 6 | Immigrant & Refugee Rights 8 | Block Party Please bring food items on to the Little Brothers – 10 | Happenings Friends of the Elderly Van! 11 | Encore Come share with elders that are served by Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) whose ministry is to serve low-income elders who have 12 | Human Faces Of Migration outlived family and friends. LBFE customizes each elder food bag and delivers bags with a friendly visit. 13 | Women's Spirituality Thank you for caring & sharing! 14 | OSP Next Here are our most needed items: 15 | Community Life • Boxed low-sugar cereal glass jars) cocktail 16 | Hearts & Prayers & regular cereal • Canned fruit (no sugar • Snack foods • Canned tuna added) individually wrapped 17 | General Information • Low-salt & regular • Oatmeal – instant and (like for school canned vegetables regular lunches): crackers, 18 | Directory • Low-salt canned soup • Creamy peanut butter cookies, trail mix, chips, • Low-salt crackers • Macaroni & cheese nuts, or granola bars (saltines, wheat) • Boxed instant potatoes • Canned tomatoes • Juice (small cans or Please avoid glass • Pasta (in boxes) individual boxes) jars and check food • Canned chicken • Individual serving cups expiration dates. • Pasta sauce in cans or of pudding, Jell-O, plastic containers (no applesauce or fruit old st. patrick’s church oldstpats oldstpatschicago directory just a thought By Fr. Tom Hurley Sunday, June 2, 2019 Sunday, June 2, 2019 After I received a su$cient amount of responses from my young friends at the school mass and a su$cient The Ascension of the Lord amount of chaos ensued, I then just simply said: so what will you do with all that you learned? That may (I know in some dioceses they celebrated Ascension on have been a little over the head for my young assembly. Thursday but in the Archdiocese of Chicago, as in many Being a Catholic school, I continued on and said that I other dioceses, this Feast is moved to the following Sunday, hope we did more for you than just %ll your heads with taking the place of the 7th Sunday of Easter.) knowledge. I hope we all learned something more about the Gospel, our Faith, the religious Traditions of This past week at our school of Frances Xavier Warde we others in our school, respect, reverence, generosity, and celebrated our last “All School” Masses with the students. prayer. I use the plural word “masses” because our school of almost 1,000 students is found on two campuses: here Each Ascension Day when we consider the %rst words of at Old St. Patrick’s and the other campus being over at the Acts of Apostles (Act 1:1-11) I am always intrigued by Holy Name Cathedral, thus requiring two liturgies. The the words of the “two men dressed in white garments” student body is divided between the lower grades and (the sign of the baptized!): “why are you standing there the upper grades. Old St. Pat’s hosts the students from looking at the sky?” Essentially the messengers are preschool to 3rd grade, while Holy Name Cathedral saying: why are you just standing around? He taught campus has the 4th through 8th grades. Needless us so much! So let’s not just stand idle and mourn our to say, with two distinctly di!erent “congregations” losses and fear this moment of transition, we’ve got because of age gaps from 5 year olds to 14, I had to work to do, so let’s get to it! come up with two di!erent homilies. Which brings me back to what that kid said: “I learned For the little ones on our campus here at OSP, as how to build a city.” On this feast of the Ascension, let’s with any children’s liturgy, I did my best to keep be renewed in what we know and in what we believe. them focused and engaged by asking them a very The Master taught us and hopefully we have learned simple question: “what have you learned this year in how to build the Kingdom… Hopefully we’ve learned school?” Whenever the homily is dialogical and I ask something from Jesus about the importance of Love, for participation, these little munchkins jump right in. forgiveness, charity, being inclusive, giving others a The big kids, not so much. They’re too school for cool second chance, caring for each other—especially the (as the pop song expresses!) Most times, for the smaller most vulnerable, respect and reverence for all life, students, it turns into chaos with every kid raising his or work for peace and justice, be fair, speak kindly, show her hand, wanting desperately to share their response! compassion... I heard what you would expect: “I learned how to add and subtract; I learned division; I learned how to spell; I As the disciples were instructed by the Risen One not to learned about art.” And the list goes on... leave the city…don’t run away yjust wait for the Spirit to guide you, strengthen you, and be your wisdom so But there was one response that really caught my you can learn more and build more. May we never stop attention from a young gentleman in second grade: learning and may we never stop building a Holy World, a “I learned how to build a city.” Whoa, I thought! You Holy Church, a Holy Home, and a Holy Life. learned how to build a city?? I told him he could be the next mayor of Chicago. As much as he caught me o!- guard with that response, I thought it was a fascinating answer. Father Tom Hurley With it being the Feast of the Ascension, the 40th day since the Resurrection, and the Risen Lord is now ready to return to God’s right hand, I muse on whether Jesus might have asked his disciples that same question: so, what have you learned? 2 visit us at oldstpats.org directory By Clare D’Agostino awakenings Sunday, June 2, 2019 What does it mean to preach in Jesus’ name? This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, where Jesus tells his disciples to go out and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Today’s words from Ephesians explode with hope and delight… “Brothers and sisters…may the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call…” Through the challenges our Church, the institution, faces today, the faithful’s vision of this promise is blurred, so the written word is a reminder rich with unending hope. The enlightened heart is like that of a child, full of wonder and delight, a poignant sentiment of how Jesus shared his light with everyone around him. God asks us to share our own light with the world… “They will know we are Christians by our love” are the words of a traditional hymn, reminding us that if our actions do not show that we have repented by opening our hearts to God so that we might receive the abundant love God wishes to lavish upon us, then our words mean nothing. Children have the abundant capacity to share their smiles, and tears, openly and compassionately. Their youthful hearts are not yet afraid with worry, they know that their God loves them unconditionally, as He loves everyone, and with ongoing catechesis they grow into God’s embrace more fully. Their faith will be tested; they will question it, they will doubt it, they will ignore it, and they may eventually walk away from it. Just like the disciples, we are a people with many questions and many doubts. The scripture today reminds us why we continue to believe in Jesus’ promise… this is our faith. Blessed to visit some of the poorest dioceses of Puerto Rico last month, I was struck with wonder by the ‘enlightened hearts’ of the people I met. One couple in particular, Miguel and Julie, live with such a !erce faith, I caught a glimpse of God in their eyes…no joke. Julie, always holding a blue crystal rosary in her hand, and Miguel shared stories of survival post Hurricane Maria. They knew God was always present, but when Maria swept across their land, they became acutely aware that God was not only alive in their hearts, He was dancing, reminding them of the joy that is their faith, calling them to spread the Good News. Immediately after Maria left the island leaving inconceivable destruction, Miguel and Julie joined hands with their neighbors and started to rebuild in whatever way they could. They fed their neighbors with hot dogs, the only food they could !nd for two weeks, never running out, every day having just enough to reach those living on the margins who were con!ned to their homes, or what was left of them. I knew I was sitting in the midst of a power I have never felt before as I eagerly listened and absorbed every word Julie and Miguel expressed while they shared their stories. God’s presence was alive in them when they spoke, when they smiled at each other, and when they held hands; the experience of Maria only made them stronger. It’s as if these two children of God had traveled with the disciples long ago, holding the hands of Peter and John so they could be closer to Jesus when he said, “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Their love for each other and for their God is steadfast…nothing, not even the strength of a Category 4 Hurricane, can stop it.